Washington. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has defended President Donald Trump’s decision to launch a military operation against Iran. The political and legal controversy over this military operation has deepened.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. He said that the Donald Trump administration does not need the permission of Parliament (Congress) at present.
He argued that the current ceasefire situation effectively prevents the binding 60-day legal time limit. According to CNN report, the need for this hearing arose due to the War Powers Resolution of 1973.
According to this resolution, the President has to seek Congress’s approval within 60 days before starting military action or the operation has to be ended. This deadline is near in the case of Iran conflict.
Hegseth argues that due to the ceasefire this rule no longer applies. Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, rejected his argument, saying that the law does not support this interpretation. He said that this is a serious legal question.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated Thursday that his chamber will not vote on any resolution approving war in the near future.
Senator Lisa Murkowski, Alaska’s Republican senator, announced that if she does not receive a credible plan from the White House by next week, she plans to introduce a resolution on whether to formally sanction the war.
The senator told the House floor, “I do not accept that we should engage in an indefinite military action without any clear direction or accountability. Congress has a role.
Congress will have to step forward and play that role. We have to fulfill the responsibility that the Constitution has assigned to us. According to Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, we are at a turning point in this war.
Under the law, the administration has the ability to request an additional 30 days. This is a better option. The issue of alleged attack on a girls’ school in Iran also came up in this hearing. More than 170 people died in this attack.
Many MPs raised questions on military accountability on this attack. Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon is now combining human surveillance with AI-assisted systems.
Another Democrat senator, Kristen Gillibrand, said that the country’s citizens do not support this conflict. California Senator Adam Schiff says the war was illegal from the beginning, as there was no attack on the US, nor was there any imminent threat of attack.
Hegseth said that’s not the case. President Trump and his administration enjoy public support. Gillibrand hit back at Hegseth’s claim. He said that there is no concrete evidence that this war has made America more secure than before, nor is there any evidence of immediate threat from Iran.
On the sidelines of this hearing, Trump said that America’s action has stopped large-scale killings in Iran. Iran’s military capability has been weakened. This is not a war, just a military operation.
Iran is desperate for a compromise. Iran’s economy has weakened due to the American blockade. Its income from oil has almost stopped.
What is War Powers Resolution?
This resolution came into existence during the Vietnam War. According to this, if the war continues for more than 60 days, Congress’s approval will be mandatory.
It also states that even if Congress has not voted to approve a war, the President has 60 days to take military action to respond to an imminent threat or attack on the country.
Legal experts say that without clear approval from Congress, the President should immediately stop using the US military as soon as this deadline is reached.
Legal experts are considering May 1 (Friday) as the 60-day deadline. He says this is because President Trump told Congress on March 2 that the war had started.
The War Powers Resolution is also known as the ’60 day clock’. This law controls the military powers of the President, so that the war cannot be carried on for a long time without the approval of Congress (US Parliament).
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